FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 80, NO. 3 



Mayzaud 1976; Logan and Epifanio 1978; 

 Capuzzo and Lancaster 1979). The hyperbola- 

 shaped decrease pattern in weight-specific 

 energy (see above) is in accordance with that 

 described by Mayzaud (1976) for respiration 

 rates in starved zooplankton. There is an initial 

 acclimation period with strongly decreasing 

 metabolic rate, followed by more or less constant 

 values. Our estimates for oxygen consumption 

 follow this pattern, and their amounts compare 

 favorably with literature data, if starvation and 

 relatively low temperature (12°C) are taken into 

 account (for review see Schatzlein and Costlow 

 1978). 



In a low temperature range, high Qio values 

 are to be expected. This assumption is confirmed 

 by extremely long survival times observed by 

 Anger and Dawirs (1981). These figures of 

 starvation resistance as well as our calculations 

 of weight-specific respiration rates fit the quan- 

 titative relationship between these two para- 

 meters described by Ikeda (1974). 



The metabolism of starved H. araneus larvae 

 is mainly based on protein degradation (Anger 

 and Nair 1979). According to the literature, this 

 is a general feature in crustaceans (e.g., 

 Mayzaud 1976; Ikeda 1977 and earlier papers; 

 Capuzzo and Lancaster 1979). Our observations 

 on changes in the C:N ratio suggest that during 

 the final (premortal) period of long-term starva- 

 tion, lipids also become important as a last 

 reserve. However, at this time the larva is 

 already doomed to die, regardless of eventual 

 food availability, since the PNR has been ex- 

 ceeded (Anger and Dawirs 1981). 



The amount of reserve and proportions of 

 metabolic pathways apparently are also subject 

 to annual and seasonal variation, possibly even to 

 differences among different parts of one brood 

 (e.g., Regnault 1969; Pandian and Schumann 

 1967; Pandian 1970; Pandian and Katre 1972; 

 Anger and Dawirs 1981). Those changes may 

 also explain differences between daily energy 

 losses in starved zoeae estimated by Anger and 

 Nair (1979) and in the present study. Future in- 

 vestigations will have to examine the amount 

 and significance of such natural variation super- 

 imposed on the response patterns of decapod 

 larvae in different feeding conditons. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



This paper is a contribution to research project 

 "Experimentelle Okosystemanalyse" sponsored 



by Bundesministerium fur Forschung and 

 Technologic Bonn, West Germany (Grant No. 

 MFU-0328/1). We are grateful to our colleagues 

 W. Greve, M. Janke, F. Schorn, and E. Wahl for 

 providing food organisms. J. Ufer operated the 

 C-H-N analyzer, and B. Lammel made the 

 drawings. Our thanks are also due to J. 

 Markham for correcting the manuscript. The 

 second author is indebted to Studienstiftung des 

 Deutschen Volkes, Bonn - Bad Godesberg, for 

 financial support. 



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